Google Free Wi-Fi is Illegal in Nigeria – NCC

NCC has officially reported Google
to the Federal Government for operating Google Free Wi-Fi illegally in the
country.

Google free Wi-Fi was launched last year in a bid to improve access to internet connectivity in the country.

It was first launched in Lagos, and then Abuja. Google’s plan is to
make available free Wi-Fi facilities in about 200 sites in Lagos and five other
states in Nigeria this year 2019.

10
million Nigerians,
including Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are expected to benefit immensely from
this project. The other states are Kaduna; Port
Harcourt (Rivers state); Ibadan (Oyo state); Enugu and Abuja.

However, according to a recent reports, NCC has accused the search engine giant of evading regulatory oversight in the expansion of Google Station across Nigeria. The regulatory body has reportedly called the attention of the Federal Government in a letter to the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).

There are several other irregularities in the structure under which
Google presently provides its free public Wi-Fi for which the Commission
requested it to provide information that will clarify certain issues that have
cropped up in the course of trying to streamline its usage of Short Message
Service (SMS) for user authentication.

NCC also claims that Google doesn’t own an Internet Service Provider
(ISP) license in the country. Google also fail to pay its Nigerian partners
that it had presented as licensees of NCC and dealing with companies illegally
providing SMS services.

Should NCC succeed in lincensing Google Station, it could serve as an avenue for revenue generation for the government agency as well as protecting local players.